Okay, this is another “Can You Believe This?” story. It seems that the Pentagon cannot account for 9 billion dollars earmarked for reconstruction in Iraq. Come on. How on earth do you misplace that kind of money? I only discovered this because a guest on the Chris Matthews show implied that the reason we are hearing so much about Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters is because there are other things they are trying to cover up. This was one of those things. After thinking about it I’m left wondering if any of that money was used against our soldiers. This is total incompetence!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/27/iraq.audit/index.html?hpt=T2
I remember boatloads of cash missing before. Don’t you? You may want to hurl after watching Donald Rumsfeld once again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rRqeJcuK-A
Yet we keep giving more and more money to the defense department.
http://www.wanttoknow.info/corruptiongovernmentmilitary
When will it stop? We spend far more than other countries on defense spending.
We are also giving money here to this top secret stuff: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/tsa/static/articles/hidden-world.html
My gosh, we seem to have plenty of money for defense spending, Homeland Security and every other insane thing to keep us “safe” and most everything else except education. Go figure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fy2010_spending_by_category.jpg
All of this got me thinking about the money that our federal government is spending on different programs. I figure if they have so much money to throw around in the defense department that the D.O.D. could casually misplace 9 billion how do the other departments fair? The figures are from Wikipedia and they are basically estimates as the appropriations must be approved by Congress. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_federal_budget
The biggest expenditure is Social Security but the Department of Defense is right behind it. They’re ahead if you count things like Homeland Security. The FBI falls under the Department of Justice and the CIA is kind of a mystery. It used to fall under defense but now I’m not sure how it’s paid for. With Homeland Security, the CIA and FBI there must be some duplication of services. If you keep reading you will be stuck wondering why some of the departments aren’t combined together. One thing you can be sure of is that while everyone else is worried about losing their jobs, federal government jobs seem to be growing. It seems like you can find employment in West Virginia, Virginia and even Washington D.C. I’m sure there are many poor in the D.C. area but if you have the skills it looks like D.C. is the place to be.
This post is merely meant to inform people about the 9 billion. Yes, we must keep our nation safe but when does this mission for safety turn into insanity and don’t you think it would be interesting to follow the money to all of the private sector corporations that we are feeding on this gravy train?
I know many of you out there just don’t know or don’t care. You live your lives thinking you will pay your taxes and just leave me alone but it is really our job to keep the government honest and on their toes. Otherwise, we will end up with nothing more than tyranny. I know there are many excessive links above to study and they will probably drive you nuts but the point is if we don’t do the work to research this stuff, the news isn’t going to give it to us. Investigative reporting today is a joke as most of the news outlets on TV are owned by some private corporation with an agenda. If you don’t think MSNBC is interested in what benefits General Electric then you must be kidding yourself. We must follow the money whether it is with these news conglomerates or with the government.
When you look at the pie chart it is infinitely clear that education is not a priority. For as much as the government proclaims their support of public education, they give a paltry 46.7 billion for it. If the education department lost 9 billion, I think they would notice it. The Department of Defense is so big and over grown; it doesn’t even blink an eye when it loses 9 billion. This is both amazing and disgusting. To further complicate this matter is an area called the “Black Ops”. These are secret missions. Who knows what we’re doing where ever? You and I don’t know as these missions are secret. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/pentagons-black-budget-tops-56-billion/ You can also read more here. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13603
It’s easy to see why most people want to bury their head in the sand and not look up until these two wars are over. However, it’s time the American people were fed the truth about these missions, the money and what the real truths are concerning our government. We don’t have money for basic things like health care and education but we have plenty of money for anything related to defense spending. We spend far more than any other country on defense but we continue to let that bloated military spending grow and grow. We are kept afraid by politicians and they also keep us in the dark about what’s really going on. They get lobbied by the big dogs of companies that love these wars, and that’s where the real power is contained. I encourage you to read this speech by President Eisenhower and give it some thought.
http://www.h-net.org/~hst306/documents/indust.html
However, if you want the shortened version just take this quote and think about it.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
